Mind-Body Medicine

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The accompanying photos show College of Mind-Body Medicine Chair Donald Moss and Polish neurologist Katarzyna Sienkiewicz holding a copy of the first issue of Biofeedback: A Clinical Journal to appear in a Polish language edition, and also Dr. Raphal Sztembis, the translator and organizer of the Polish edition. These photos were taken during the scientific meeting of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe, on Thursday September 13, in Rzeszow, Poland.

Donald Moss, Chair of the College of Mind-Body Medicine, is in Rzeszow, Poland, attending the 16th meeting of the Biofeedback Foundation of Europe (BFE). Dr. Moss is a Board member for the BFE and has taught at BFE conferences in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. He is providing blog entries to communicate the growing presence of mind-body approaches in Eastern Europe.

The accompanying photo shows Dr. Don Moss with Piotr Sobaniec, at the current BFE meeting in Rzeszow, Poland. Piotr is a PhD student at the Medical University in Bialystok, Poland. Piotr is 27 years old and first attended a workshop with Dr. Moss in Berlin in 2007. Piotr reports that this experience influenced him to study psychophysiology, biofeedback, and neurofeedback further, in Poland and at international conferences. In 2012, he was able to study in Toronto, with Drs. Michael and Lynda Thompson, pursuing the clinical practice of neurofeedback (using an EEG to re-train cortical rhythms of the human brain).

As a nutritionist, Ruthi Solari began Saybrook’s Masters program in Mind Body Medicine with a keen interest in the important role food plays in preventative healthcare and holistic wellness for individuals and communities. When Solari learned that 15% of Americans rely on emergency food sources as a primary source for household food and U.S. schools receive significant support from foodbanks to help provide meals for food-insecure students, she saw an opportunity to improve the nutritional quality of food distributed through food banks. In 2009, Solari founded a 501(c)3 non-profit organization called SuperFood Drive to focus on healthy hunger relief initiatives. Traditionally, food banks have struggled just to fill empty stomachs – often with no focus on nutrition. Solari had a vision to infuse existing hunger relief organizations (food banks, food pantries and soup kitchens) with healthy food and nutrition education.

Luann Fortune is a new mentor and instructor in Saybrook University’s College of Mind-Body Medicine. She is thrilled to be assisting the MBM students to reach their academic and personal goals. Luann has eight unique mentees that bring their own history and knowledge to Saybrook. It is Luann’s intention to act as a coach and an advocate for the students throughout their entire degree program. As she engages with this new position she will be present for her students, however, she is also aware that the interactions will impact her as well.

Luann Fortune will also be teaching “Fundamentals of Research” in the Fall Term B with Connie Corley, and “Assessing Systems and Processes in Healthcare” in Spring 2013.

Sometimes life’s most challenging events are the ones that help to initiate meaningful change in one’s life. This was the case for Dr. Alison Boudreau, a new mentor guiding students in the College of Mind-Body Medicine at Saybrook University. Alison experienced a convergence of profound life events all around the same time -- the loss of a friend and the loss of her job in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorism event. These experiences had a transformative effect on her and changed her life’s path.

Recently Terri Goslin-Jones, PhD, a Saybrook University graduate, agreed to serve as a mentor for students in the College of Mind-Body Medicine. Terri’s main reason for becoming a mentor is to give back to other people, who are on a personal quest to nurture and develop their unique desire to change their part of the world.

Avn Sturm’s dissertation interest is in Ayurveda, with a focus on the doctor-patient healing relationship in Ayurvedic Medicine. Ayruveda is the traditional medicine of India, based originally in the second millennium BCE, and further developed in the millennia since that time. Ayruvedic Medicine treats the whole person, not the disease, and draws heavily on herbs, dietary change, meditation, and life style changes, to draw on the healing resources of the patient.

On August 14, 2012 Saybrook University's College of Mind-Body Medicine held its first independent graduation ceremony as a College! The Commencement Ceremony took place in San Diego, California. University Provost Dan Sewell, College Dean James Gordon, and College Chair Donald Moss bestowed the master’s degree in mind-body medicine on fourteen individuals. Ten of the 14 graduates were present for the ceremony, and are pictured in the accompanying photo.

Tamami Shirai conducted her master's thesis research in the College of Mind-Body Medicine on the psychophysiological impact of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in her native Japan.

Almost a year after her first visit to Hanamaki, Iwate prefecture, Japan, after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Tamami Shirai visited Tohoku (Japan's northeast) again in March 2012. This time, she visited Tohoku's Iwate and Miyagi prefectures as well as two cities in the western part of Japan. This blog entry is based on her eye witness accounts.

This College of Mind-Body Medicine Certificate provides a comprehensive training in health and wellness coaching. The Certificate includes five key courses, four residential conferences, and a capstone integrative essay.